Why study abroad if there are good universities at home

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, Contributor, Jakarta

Universities with international standards have continued to increase during the past few years to meet the growing demand for good quality education.

The Swiss German University, Universitas INDONUSA Esa Unggul (UIEU), Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) and Sedaya International University Jakarta (SIUJ) are among the local institutions of higher education that have adopted international standards in their curricula.

Established in the 2000, SGU is running bachelor's and master's degree programs with qualified students having the opportunity to continue their studies in Germany after two years of study.

As the first university of applied sciences that adheres to European standards in Indonesia, SGU provides various course programs, including mechatronics, information technology and business administration.

Kemala Motik, the rector of UIEU, said that she and her husband, Abdul Gafur, the former minister of youth and sports, came up with the idea to establish the university in the 1980s when she studied in the United States.

"Rather than spending a huge amount of money abroad, why don't we set up a university of an international quality by inviting lecturers overseas to teach here?" she said.

Gerry Pakke, the manager of the marketing and counseling department at SIUJ, which was established only one and half years ago, shared the same view. "Why don't we bring international education to Indonesia. This will not only provide job opportunities and improve the Indonesian economy, but also develop human resources here, preparing Indonesians to face globalization and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 2002," he said.

"By sending their children to study here, they will not only save money, but they will also be able to directly control their children and, most importantly, as graduates, they will have an international qualifications," he said.

Kemala said when the idea came out about 20 years ago, government officials did not give an adequate response. "Perhaps, our mind was too forward and farsighted at the time," Kemala said.

Initially, the college was established in 1986 as the Indonesian European University (IEU). The university, operating in cooperation with the European University, focused on business management.

It wasn't until 1993 that the school changed its name to Universitas INDONUSA Esa Unggul and became fully accredited by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Its Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Business Administration (BABA) was validated by the University of Wales from the United Kingdom.

EUI offers a full range of programs from short courses to diploma 3, right through to the masters programs. With its golden campus, the university occupies some four hectares of land on Jl. Terusan Arjuna, close to the Tomang Toll Road in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

The faculties include engineering, economics, law, health administration and communication, but only the BABA has adopted the international education system. "The level and quality of the course is considered to be equivalent to that offered by the University of Wales," said Michael Goodwin, who teaches at IEU.

Similarly, SIUJ and UPH cooperate with overseas universities to ensure the quality of education. SIUJ is one of several institutions owned by the International Group of Universities, Colleges and Schools, one of Malaysia's large educational groups. SIUJ opened its doors in early 2001 following the issuance of the Ministry of Education Letter No. 85/D/)/2001.

SIUJ is validated by several overseas universities, with the University of East London, one of the top 20 universities in the U.K., being one of them. The learning and teaching program is equivalent to that offered by the University of East London, with a full curriculum, lecturers, learning process and course duration. "The study is intensive, with three semesters per year," Pakke said.

To complete an S1 and a bachelor, a student needs only two years and 8 months, compared to four years taken at local universities, plus a 30 percent modified curriculum suited to the current development and government regulations allowing a student to own two degrees.

Under the system, a student will be able to obtain two degrees, an S1 from the Sedaya International University here and a bachelor degree from the University of East London at the same time without having to go abroad. "Study is local, but the qualifications are from overseas," Pakke said.

The SIUJ has about 100 partnerships with many universities abroad, including those from the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia, and this has "enabled us to launch programs on transfer/twining degrees to overseas universities. Upon completion of an S1, which takes between one and a half and two years, students are allowed to continue further studies to obtain their bachelor degree at universities in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia".

As a university with an international vision, UPH wishes to respond to a variety of challenges presented by the new era of globalization by making itself a modern and superior education institution.

"The university is more professionally and independently managed, with new management approaches. From here, graduates are expected to be superior and able to meet the demands of industrial advancements," said BIP Ditrawara in its publication Top Ten Leading Private Universities.

Set up in 1994, UPH not only provides modern and superior facilities equivalent to those provided by international universities, such as air-conditioned classrooms, a library and a computer laboratory, but there are also internationally recognized subjects and curriculum. Therefore, the university has established a cooperation with other overseas universities, including Oklahoma State University, Kansas State University, University of Arkansas, University of Missouri-Rolla, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Baylor University, University of Tulsa and University of Kentucky. English and Indonesian are used in instruction.

Kemala at IUEU said the university's BABA had 300 graduates, with many coming from 14 countries, including Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Germany, Hungary and Australia.

"Several students have left their countries to deliberately study here. And several others are sons or daughters of diplomats who work here or are children whose parents work at foreign companies here," Motik said.

"This (mixture of students) enables them, as well as our Indonesian students, to develop an international dimension to their studies," the rector said.

UIEU is backed by highly trained staff from several countries, including the U.K., Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and America. SIUJ has about 150 students, with 10 percent from different countries, and employs teachers, with about 50 percent of different nationalities on staff.

With the international standards the universities have adopted, there are tighter entry requirements for students to meet. For instance, to enter one of the universities, a student is required to take a mathematics and TOEFL test, but if that has been done, he or she is required to submit a copy of the official results. "The minimum brand score for the TOEFL should be 500. Students must be fluent in English," Goodwin at UIEU said.

When it comes to school fees, the annual tuition is certainly higher to that set by local universities, but it is much cheaper than tuition overseas.

"The tuition fee is three or four times cheaper compared to that spent at universities abroad," he said.

Studying at IEU will cost a student about US$3,500 per year. Tuition can be paid either in dollars or rupiah. "If they (students) study abroad they may spend at least Rp 500 million for three years of study. But if they study here, they can obtain a similar degree and pay tuition that is less than Rp 100 million," he said.

Gerry Pakke said parents have enthusiastically welcomed the presence of SIUJ because they could save money on their children's education.

"However, several students have not yet become accustomed to studying international curriculum that is instructed in English," he said, adding that SIUJ set their school fees at Rp 8 million per semester, which could be paid in rupiah.